Bucs jump to No. 12 in FCS Coaches' Poll

2013-11-12T14:24:33Z2014-05-31T13:21:06Z

CHARLESTON, SC -

Following a win over then-No.3 Coastal Carolina, the Charleston Southern Buccaneers jumped four spots in this week's FCS Coaches' Poll to No. 12. The ranking is the highest ever in any of the FCS polls for the Buccaneers, who are in the poll for the sixth-straight week.

CSU topped Coastal Carolina, 31-26, on Saturday in front of a standing-room only crowd at Buccaneer Field. The Bucs won their 10th game of the season, also a school record, and improved to 3-0 in Big South play with two games remaining.

CSU is ranked No. 13 in the Sports Network Poll, also the highest ranking in school history in the respective poll.

Twenty-three teams changed spots in the FCS Coaches Poll this week, but North Dakota State and Eastern Illinois keep hold of No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, for the fourth consecutive week.

The Bison took all 26 first-place votes from the coaches to retain the top spot, while Eastern Illinois earned 621 points, one fewer than the Panthers earned last week.

Eastern Washington moves to No. 3 following a 54-29 drubbing of Montana State on Saturday. The Eagles pulled in 598 points, followed by Sam Houston State (545), which jumped three spots form its No. 7 ranking last week. Undefeated Fordham rounds out the top five with 543 points.

Maine is sixth, moving three spots forward with 479 points. Towson (455) and Montana (426) each jumped four slots to No. 7 and No. 8, respectively. Montana State (410) completes the top 10, falling five spots in the rankings.

McNeese State (404), Charleston Southern (376), Northern Arizona (343) and Southeastern Louisiana all moved forward to hold down the Nos. 11-14 spots in the poll. Youngstown State dropped a 22-20 decision to Northern Iowa and dropped seven spots to No. 15, tied for the biggest drop of the week.

Bethune-Cookman (247) comes in at No. 16 following a 27-24 home loss to Norfolk State, and Lehigh is 17th with 205 points. Chattanooga knocked off Wofford 20-10 on Saturday to move up five spots to No. 18, the biggest jump in the poll this week. South Dakota State (182) and William and Mary (175) close out the top 20.

Wofford (97) and Delaware (89) are No. 21 and No. 22 after both teams lost over the weekend. Jacksonville State (79) and Princeton (61) both enter the poll after being unranked last week, and James Madison rounds out the rankings with 54 points.

Samford and Central Arkansas dropped from the rankings.

The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.